The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) Position Cut by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC trimmed its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,852 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 712 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in The Hartford Financial Services Group were worth $390,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HIG. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 91,493 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,488,000 after buying an additional 1,964 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 5.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 125,961 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,932,000 after buying an additional 5,946 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 11.2% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 24,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 19.7% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 176,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,541,000 after purchasing an additional 29,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 262,293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,284,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. 93.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HIG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $77.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a report on Monday, April 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hartford Financial Services Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.44.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of HIG opened at $99.34 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $98.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.90. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.42 and a 1-year high of $103.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.09). The Hartford Financial Services Group had a return on equity of 20.64% and a net margin of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $6.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current year.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The Hartford Financial Services Group’s payout ratio is presently 21.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Hartford Financial Services Group news, SVP Allison G. Niderno sold 1,516 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.55, for a total transaction of $143,337.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,566.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Allison G. Niderno sold 1,516 shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.55, for a total transaction of $143,337.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,566.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael R. Fisher sold 27,004 shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.90, for a total value of $2,670,695.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,869,803.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 90,169 shares of company stock worth $8,676,992. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About The Hartford Financial Services Group

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and financial services to individual and business customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its Commercial Lines segment offers insurance coverages, including workers' compensation, property, automobile, general and professional liability, package business, umbrella, fidelity and surety, marine, livestock, accident, health, and reinsurance through regional offices, branches, sales and policyholder service centers, independent retail agents and brokers, wholesale agents, and reinsurance brokers.